Karter

KARTER

THE REST OF our lunch was peaceful, with no more questions about Lucas. I had no clue what had prompted any of that, but I didn't like it. I wanted to keep the whole situation under wraps until I could get it resolved with Anthony. The last thing I wanted was for Cameron to have to worry about him on top of everything else going on. Not to mention that it was embarrassing that I needed outside help in regards to being harassed by an omega in the first place. It made me feel like a weak kid in the schoolyard getting bullied for their lunch money.

We took a short walk around the nearby park before heading home. He threaded his fingers through mine as we walked, glancing up at me a bit shyly as he did. We'd been fucking like rabbits at every available opportunity, but holding my hand was apparently blush-worthy for him.

I couldn't get enough of him. He was always on my mind, no matter what I was supposed to be doing. It was obviously the same for him, if I could go by the fact that he was ready for whatever I wanted at the drop of a hat. And no matter how much time we'd spent together during the day, he always wanted to be touching me. Cuddled into my side or my chest, or just holding onto my arm. Even at night, when he should have been tired of me, he loved being wrapped up in my arms.

I'd heard people say that relationships had a honeymoon phase, a dreamy beginning period where you wanted your partner all the time. That must have been what was happening with us.

"Um, you know, sometimes people stare at you," Cameron pointed out to me once we'd loaded back into the car.

"They probably recognize me from interviews I've done or things of that nature."

"Well, maybe," he said, but looked unconvinced. "I think they probably mostly just look because you're hot."

I glanced over at him, raising my eyebrow. "Is that why you're always looking at me?"

"Pretty much," he admitted, but didn't look particularly ashamed by that fact. "I mean, you are really, really hot."

"That's what I keep hearing," I said. I knew I wasn't bad to look at, but I was pretty sure no one had ever been so infatuated with my appearance as he was. "But out of the two of us, you're the one worth looking at."

"People don't look at me like they look at you," he said. "Trust me, they don't."

"That's good for them. If they look too much, I might get upset."

"Oh, stop," he giggled, rolling his eyes. "You know you don't have anything to worry about."

"Even so," I said. He was mine. I didn't want other alphas looking at him, scenting him, listening to his voice, or even thinking about him. Was this a reasonable expectation for the world we lived in? The answer was no, but I could always dream.

He opened his mouth to answer me, but closed it when his phone, resting on his lap began to ring and vibrate. He picked it up, his eyes widening as he assessed the number on the screen.

"Hello? Oh, hi, Detective Singh. Yeah, I can talk now."

The name registered with me as the detective who he had given his report about the attack at the restaurant to. I listened intently to try and hear the man's voice on the other end of the line, but I could only hear Cameron's responses with long pauses in between.

"Right… Oh. Okay… Well, um, my boyfriend convinced me to quit so I don't work there anymore but I'll definitely let you know."

My fingers tightened on the steering wheel, my face whipping over to stare at him before I remembered I needed to be looking at the road. Had he called me his boyfriend?

"Ah, okay. Yeah… Well, I appreciate that. Thank you, Detective. Yeah, you too." He hung up the phone, looking over at me. "That was Detective Singh, from the restaurant."

"I gathered that."

Excitement was buzzing through my veins at his words from before, but I was pretty sure he hadn't noticed how he'd referred to me. We knew they'd had to release the guy from their custody just a few days after the incident because he hadn't had any prior charges for assault or anything violent. They'd watched him for some time after that, but he hadn't given them any reason to be suspicious. He had a trial scheduled, but months down the road.

"Well, he was just calling to let me know they don't really have any more information, but they've been checking up on him periodically and they said I shouldn't have anything to worry about in terms of a follow-up attack or anything. But they said if anything weird happens, I should let them know right away. They were worried about me seeing him at the club, but I told them I don't work there anymore, so… And I know he hasn't come back to the restaurant, Sharee would never let him in."

"So you aren't worried that he'll come find you again?"

"I'm really not," he said honestly. "I mean, like I said before this guy never looked twice at me until that day so I don't know what was up with him. But I would be really shocked if I ever had any more issues."

I hated the idea of letting it go. The fact that this guy had frightened and threatened my omega… Part of me wanted to kill him. But the more logical part of me knew Cameron was right. He'd clearly been on something that day, and if he had no prior assaults or suspicious behavior since, then we probably had nothing to worry about.

"Just keep an eye out for anything weird," I told him. "Bad luck seems to follow you."

He laughed a little, but there wasn't much humor in it. "That might be true for the most part, but I've been lucky in the important parts of my life."

"You mean Ty?" I asked. I didn't know much about kids. I'd grown up an only child so I had no nieces or nephews for comparison. But even I could tell he was an amazing kid.

"Among other things," he answered, slanting a sly look over to me before glancing back out the window. Pink bloomed in his cheeks and spread to spill over his ears and neck.

Anthony's words about me being smitten rang in my head. He was right. I was definitely smitten.

I whipped into a parking space as close to my building as I could, maybe a little too fast because Cameron's eyes got as wide as saucers.

"Jeez! What's your big hurry?" He asked, giving me an incredulous look as I yanked the key out of the ignition.

"You don't even realize what you said, do you?"

"What, about being lucky about some things?"

"No, on the phone to the detective." I opened my door and slammed it, speeding over to his side so I could open his. He'd barely unbuckled his seatbelt by the time I was there. "When you told him you weren't serving at the strip club anymore."

"Um…" He looked confused as he tried to recall. "I just said you convinced me to quit."

"No," I said. "You said your boyfriend convinced you to quit."

"I…" His brow furrowed as he apparently played the conversation back in his mind. I could tell he'd reached the right conclusion when he blushed again, this time covering his face with his palms. "Oh god, sorry. That's kind of lame, right?"

I didn't answer verbally, but hooked my arm around his hips to toss him over my shoulder. His squeal and subsequent outraged splutter made it clear he wasn't thrilled with the action.

"W-What are you doing!?" He demanded an answer from me, struggling to dislodge himself from my shoulder. I clamped my arm around his legs to hamper his movements as I hurried through the parking lot and into the lobby.

"We have approximately," I checked my watch. "33 minutes until Ty gets home from school. I plan on using those 33 minutes as efficiently as I can."

"Use them for what exactly?" He asked incredulously, squeaking when I gripped his perky little ass, stroking it with my thumb through his jeans.

"You know what."

In the lobby we passed an older lady with a dog on a leash. She glared at us like we were heathens who were already fucking on the floor in front of her.

"This is so embarrassing," he hissed out, still wiggling vainly for escape. "I'm going to kill you when I get down."

I punched in the code for my private elevator. "No, you aren't. You're going to kiss me when you get down."

"I am not!" He denied. "This caveman routine is not cute."

To prove him wrong, I carefully set him down onto his feet. To make sure he couldn't look away from me, I gently cupped him under his chin, staring into his eyes.

"You make me very, very happy. I've never been as happy as I am with you."

He blinked at my words before his lips poked out in an adorable pout.

"That is so not fair."

"So are you going to kill me now, like you said?" I goaded him. He let out an exasperated sigh, before curling his hands into the front of my shirt, pulling me down to him to fuse our mouths together.

We were already half-undressed before we made it into my front door.